This morning she’s in the gymnasium at the Scadding Court community centre, moving gracefully to the gentle commands of 76-year-old Siao Hang Tse, who is giving a tai chi lesson.

Lin, a nursing student who has lived very close to “Alex Park’’ for more than 20 years, used to volunteer in a seniors’ building in the neighbourhood, translating for elderly Cantonese- and Mandarin-speaking residents, and escorting them to medical appointments. She attended school with children from the community.

So as she takes a reporter on an impromptu tour of the decaying housing in the Dundas Ave. W and Bathurst area neighbourhood one afternoon, she speaks passionately about an ambitious, 15-year revitalization plan developed with significant local input. It calls for demolishing and replacing 333 co-op townhouse and apartment units, and gradually shifting from mostly subsidized housing to a mixed-income neighbourhood.

Currently in the rezoning stage, the plan also calls for renovating 473 existing units, improved green space, new underground parking, and commercial and retail space.

Final planning approvals are expected by early next year, when requests for bids will go out.

And though Toronto Community Housing is regrouping from a devastating city audit report that found improper expense and procurement practices at the housing agency, the show must go on. And that includes projects like Alexandra Park’s remake.

“It’s going to be good for the area. Those townhouses are small and cramped,’’ says Lily Lin, adding: “If you keep telling people their area isn’t good enough to be improved, they start believing they can’t pull themselves out of poverty.’’

Like Regent Park and Don Mount/Rivertowne, Toronto Community Housing’s other big-budget revitalization initiatives, the Alexandra Park project would leverage land value to generate funds for replacing and upgrading housing.

As to market-rate housing, some 1,530 new condo units and nearly a dozen townhouses are slated to be built around the site.

A big plus, say the plan’s backers, is the goal of “zero displacement.”

But at Alexandra Park, the first clusters of new housing would be built where there are now just parking lots and open space. People would move directly from their old units to the new — and the process would leapfrog from there, explains local councillor Adam Vaughan.

“It means the project will happen a bit slower,’’ says Vaughan — about 15 years to complete. But zero displacement was a principle residents insisted on. “That’s the most critical thing in this whole project.”

The seven-hectare site is tucked between Kensington Market and Queen Street W., and in terms of TCHC’s housing portfolio is among the highest in land value.

The site is home to a diverse population with black, Chinese and South Asian residents predominant. Its 800 or so units are home to about 2,500 people.

Built in 1968, Alexandra Park consists mostly of drab co-op townhouses and apartments. The Atkinson Co-op manages most of the site, while TCHC oversees a seniors’ apartment building and the Queen Vanauley apartments.

But like many public housing projects of its era, Alexandra Park is challenged by its isolation from the surrounding community, vacant and underutilized spaces, disorganized site layout, aging stock, outdated design, and high operating, maintenance and security costs, according to Jeffrey Ferrier, a spokesperson for Toronto Community Housing.

Though gangs, crime and drug issues have arisen over the years, the sense of community remains strong. Aside from nearby Scadding Court community centre, Alexandra Park’s actual adjacent park is an immensely popular gathering place for residents.

A short walk east is the Alexandra Park Community Centre, a hub for many of the area’s low-income people, explains Doina Oncel, who does fundraising and administrative work there.

There’s a mom-and-tots drop-in, clothing drives, a homework club, leadership training for teens, a summer camp, and programming for seniors.

But the community centre is small, old and needs and makeover, says executive director Donna Harrow, who hopes some of the redevelopment funds will be devoted to a new centre.

In Lawrence Heights, an aging TCHC housing project slated for a 20-year redevelopment, residents in adjoining neighbourhoods have voiced strong concerns about the size and scope of the plan. But so far, neighbours seem to have bought into the Alexandra Park project.

Businessman Grey Coyote, chair of the Kensington Market Action Committee, says he’ll be watching to be sure rental rates for new commercial space that pops up there are accessible to smaller operations and not just big chains. But overall, he feels the revitalization will be a “positive thing for the area, when all is said and done.’’

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